


if it's you

by copper_nv



Category: A3! (Anime), A3! (Video Game)
Genre: 5k words for a oneshot thank u kings, AND UHHH A LITTLE BIT OF TALK ABOUT DYING, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I HOPE THATS THE RIGHT CHARACTER TAG FOR KUMON?!?, I don't know how to tag., M/M, OH very brief mention of alcohol, Pining, a shitton of self-deprecation, and reincarnation, brief mentions of divorce and toxic relationships, i think... it's pretty lighthearted thougj, no beta we die like men, thank you mukuyuki for saving my creative intregity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29868990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copper_nv/pseuds/copper_nv
Summary: Yuki, a boy who never really cared for soulmates.Muku, a boy who dreams of meeting his soulmate everyday.
Relationships: Rurikawa Yuki/Sakisaka Muku
Comments: 12
Kudos: 30





	if it's you

Yuki Rurikawa was never too fond of the idea of soulmates.

His mother had divorced her soulmate before marrying his father. She’d always complain about how much of an asshole they were– despite the divorce being two decades ago. His father had never met his soulmate, and gave up hope that he ever would.

His sisters weren’t off better. Yuu’s soulmate was a roughhouser of sorts, always being littered in bruises or cuts. The ink on Yume’s wrist had always haunted her, “ _ you’re a bitch _ ” written in clear display for the world to see. 

Yuki’s soulmark never appeared. Perhaps it was something that took effort, like writing on your arm. He didn’t care much, even then. He’s scrolled through gossip forums and Reddit threads about people who left their partners to be with their soulmate. Yuki didn’t understand at first. Why should something like fate dictate who you loved? Why was something so simple as a piece of red thread so important? 

There are unspoken rules in this society.

People who dated freely without care of their soulmate were looked down upon. Many people disagreed with the notion of dating outside your soulmate.  _ They’re not yours, their soulmate is out there somewhere, _ they’d say, and prattle on about some self-righteous bullshit that had Yuki rolling his eyes. It made him irrationally annoyed. On particularly cold and lonely nights, he would research the chance of meeting your soulmate. The rate wasn’t particularly high, studies showed, and Yuki would huff in some sort of sick, cruel glee. 

It is written in stone, that you must love this person. He’d always think about when his mother was tipsy off wine and cry in his father’s arms about her ex-lover. He’d think about holding Yuu’s hand while she cried in her hospital bed after her soulmate broke their leg. He’d think about Yume covering up the words on her wrists with concealer because she couldn’t bear to see them anymore.

“ _ I hope that _ ,” his mother sobbed as Yuki cradled her in his arms, “ _ the world is kinder to you than it was to me _ .”

Soulmates were always the number one discussion topic amongst school students, and it made him see red. His peers would roll up their sleeves to show swatches of gold and pink and black in hopes it would match, or having their friends set up meetings with someone who matched their eye color. 

He’d tune out those conversations. No one talked to him much anyways, so it’s not like they cared. They didn’t care about the fact that Yuki never got one, they didn’t care that Yuki hated all things romantic.

_ Fuck soulmates _ , Yuki bitterly thought. 

Society never liked people like him anyways. 

• 

By some weird twist of fate, Yuki ended up applying for an acting company. He never really had a particular interest. At most, when he was younger, he adored musical theater, but that was it. It was fun though, he admitted to no one with reluctance. Everyone he met there was so bright and vivacious– even the hack, he would admit with reluctance. 

Acting is not his thing. Fashion is. But he still volunteers to join the Summer Troupe at a bankrupt acting company. 

Yuki knew of Muku Sakisaka before they ever met. He was the gem of the track team, and quite popular. They never really interacted before joining Mankai Company, though. He wonders if Muku’s heard of him too. Yuki wasn’t popular. He was sneered at for liking cute clothes and frills. He’d stare at the bow on his uniform with disdain, having half the mind to replace it with the more standard tie. 

Muku was the light compared to Yuki’s darkness. Muku was timid and a bit awkward, Yuki never held back his sharp words. Muku was a hopeless romantic, Yuki loathed the thought of romance. Muku was kind and loved by all. Yuki was not. 

“Do you have your soulmark yet, Yuki-kun?” Muku asks out of the blue, glancing up from his manga volume. 

“No.” 

“Oh,” he says, softly, “I’m sorry. I don’t have one either.”

Something like hope suddenly worms its way in Yuki’s chest, but he immediately banishes it to where it came from. 

Hope? What the fuck. That’s not a feeling you get when your friend tells you they don’t have a soulmark, especially when you know they desperately want to meet their soulmate. He wills his heart rate to go down to a normal pace, and ignores the sudden fluttery feeling in his gut. He feels like a schoolgirl in those shoujo mangas Muku reads. He hates it. 

Muku looks at him awkwardly, like he’s trying to see if Yuki is secretly mad at him or not. He’s probably worrying if soulmates are a sensitive topic. To be fair– it is sort of one. 

“It’s fine,” he lies to himself, and to Muku. “Don’t worry about it.”

• 

Muku Sakisaka has always adored the idea of romance. There isn’t a day where he drifts off into daydream land and imagines him and his soulmate’s first meeting. He constantly wonders what they would look like, how their voice would sound. Would they be kind? Hotheaded? Passionate? Confident?

His parents are soulmates. They met when they were children, and simply never grew apart. There was an unspoken domesticity between the two, a bond so tight that it seemed unbreakable. Little Muku could only stare in his highchair with wonder as his parents seemed to be off in their own little corner of the universe.

His sister met her soulmate when she was in junior high, and Muku was still in elementary school. She came home, face flushed, hand in hand with another girl. A red string dangled in between their clasped hands, twisting around their fingers in a jumbled mess. And he watched as they fell deeper in love with each other day by day.

So it’s not really a shock Muku’s a bit of a hopeless romantic.

He’s not too sure what appeals to him so much about the concept of soulmates. Maybe it was the idea of there being only one person in the world who could possibly love you wholeheartedly. Someone who loves you not because you’re perfect, but accept your flaws for what they are. Two imperfect people loving each other. 

Maybe it was naïve of him to think this way. Muku knows that there are people out there who are perfectly happy without a soulmate, and given there are seven billion people living, there are bound to be a few people who never find theirs. It’s not a guarantee Muku will find his, either. He hasn’t gotten a soulmark yet– his mom called him a late bloomer, but words can only comfort him so much. Maybe he’s doomed to just die alone. 

The future is scary. Sometimes he wonders if he’s believing in something false. Is it truly worth the effort? He’s getting past the average age where people get their soulmarks, with each passing day. 

Love can turn people cruel. He’s read stories about how people never got to meet their soulmates, making them green with envy. They’re bitter, cruel people. Muku doesn’t want to be like that. 

Everyday, he wakes up and immediately checks the mirror to examine himself. Is there anything new? A tattoo? Words? There is nothing. There is no red string tied to his pinky leading to the other end of the world. There are no cute scribbles on his arms that will reach his partner. There is only a hollow feeling of disappointment that continues to eat at him. Muku’s insecurities come to hit him in full. It makes him feel silly for giving his 100% for something that’s only a chance.

Still, nonetheless, Muku continues to believe in love. Or that’s what he tells himself, anyways.

• 

It’s hard, sometimes. When everyday you wake up to crushing disappointment, it’s hard to stay optimistic. Every hero’s journey has a dark hour, and it feels like Muku is in his. 

He knows he’s an insecure person. On a scale of one to ten on the confidence scale, he would rank himself a four on a good day. Maybe a six on stage. 

“...You okay, Mukkun?” Kazunari asks after noticing his roommate was sulking. Muku swallows. He feels even worse, frankly, for being so lost in his head that Kazunari noticed. He tries to push away those feelings.

_ Kazu-kun is a kind person. Of course he would notice _ . He pathetically attempts to reassure himself.  _ Think positive, Muku!  _

“I’m fine!” he blurts so hastily in a way that has him cringing. Great job of assuring Kazu-kun, dummy. 

“I’m fine,” he tries again, calmer this time, “it’s just… soulmate issues.”

Kazunari’s lips quirk up into a kind smile, and ruffles Muku’s head affectionately in a way that he’s being reminded of Jucchan. “Hey, we all have those days. If you need anything, I’m always here for you, alright?”

Muku nods, face a bit red because he’s still feeling a little embarrassed over making someone worry about him. Kazunari glances at him before leaving their shared room. He immediately grabs a pillow off his bed and screams into it as soon as the door shuts close. 

He wants to cry. Just a tiny bit. Maybe a lot. 

Muku’s gonna die alone and sad, he knows it, he’s going to become a bitter old man who yells at kids for stepping onto his lawn, he’s going to be on his deathbed and lament the fact that he’s spent years worrying about something that doesn’t seem to care back. He spouts out pretty words of believing in love, but does he actually believe it? He’s a faker! A fraud! He doesn’t– he’s just a phony who just looks like an idiot in the face of people like Homare-san! 

Muku sighs and props his head against the wall, wondering if he could ever overcome the tests, allies, enemies phase of his journey.

_ Oh Miku _ , he laments, staring at the poster Tenma gifted him,  _ we’re really in for it now.  _

• 

“Yuki-kun!” Muku slams the door open to Room 201, causing Yuki to nearly prick his finger with a needle out of surprise. 

“Yeah?” He glances up from his work in progress, suddenly deciding now was a good time to take a small break. 

“I… I…!” Muku begins wildly gesturing, unable to form a coherent sentence that would actually leave his mouth. Yuki stares at him with an eyebrow raised, unsure where this was going. Eventually, he stopped flailing his arms and showed Yuki his hand.

Oh.

Oh. Okay.

“It kind of looks like a rose,” he gushes, words leaving his lips at a pace so fast Yuki physically couldn’t keep up. Not when he’s still processing the fact that Muku finally got a soulmark after fifteen years.

“Congrats, Wonderboy,” he forces the brightest smile he could. He tries to ignore the fact that his eyes are watering, and his throat feels awfully dry. Did he forget to drink water today? He’s been burying himself in his work, so that might be it. Yeah, that’s why his throat is so clammy, why he feels absolutely crushed, why it feels like the world is ending right before his eyes. 

Muku squeals about the tattoo some more, until the late hours of the evening. Yuki couldn’t push him away, despite how heavy his heart felt. He couldn’t physically hole himself in his room alone and kick Tenma out to sleep in the courtyard or something, because he wanted to be happy for Muku. He  _ should  _ be happy. As much as Yuki felt disdain for the mere thought of soulmates, Muku deserved it. He truly did.

Yuki buries himself in his work again to try and ignore the fact that– 

...He’s crying.

Yuki’s crying. He almost laughs at himself, at the pitifulness of it all. 

He pushes his chair away from his desk, because there is no way in hell he’s gonna stain his hard work with tears. The noise makes the hack glance down from whatever he’s doing.

“Oi, be quiet, I’m trying to do homew…” Tenma trails off when he finally focuses on Yuki’s face. “Are you okay?!”

The world feels like it’s in slow motion as Tenma clambors down bed. An ugly sob leaves Yuki’s mouth, and he’s suddenly very glad he pushed himself away from his work because he might have ripped it in half from the overwhelming emotions he’s feeling. 

_ You should be happy _ , Yuki reminds himself, as Tenma awkwardly hovers over him, unsure on how to comfort the usually tough and blunt green-head. 

_ You should be happy,  _ he attempts to convince himself, as he grabs Tenma by the hem of his shirt and gives him a bone-crushing hug.

_ You should be happy _ , he sobs, staining the new sweater Tenma just bought.

Yuki buries himself in Tenma’s shoulder to try and ignore the fact that he fell in love with Muku Sakisaka.

• 

Maybe, just maybe, Muku is looking at this the wrong way. For years, he thought of soulmates as two people made for each other. But maybe– the appeal of soulmates is growing together. Taking on a journey, hand in hand. 

A soulmate is someone who tears down your walls and wakes you up from a dream. Not a perfect fit. They see who you are in all of your insecurities and lowest points, and give you the drive to become better. 

Maybe these are thoughts to make Muku feel better. 

He was ecstatic at first. He doesn’t know why staring at the soulmark on the back of his palm made him feel guilty. He doesn’t know why he’s trying to push himself away from the concept of a soulmate, a partner just made for you. It’s what he wanted, after all; so why is he trying to deviate from what he has thought for years now? 

Yuki has been acting weird, Muku notes. Actually, the whole Summer Troupe was acting off lately. Tenma looked as if he wanted to say something, but clammed up when Muku asked. Kazunari sometimes came walking out of Room 201 with a grim expression, but immediately forced a smile when he noticed Muku. Misumi has been giving Yuki a lot more triangles than usual. Kumon dragged Muku away from the dorms oftenly, nervously laughing. 

...Something happened, and it was Muku’s fault. That’s the only reason why they're acting so shady around him. 

He feels a little hurt. Sure, he’s a bit sensitive, and knowing something he did was his fault might hurt, but not knowing what he did wrong made his paranoia intensify. Muku’s not oblivious. If anything, he notices and overthinks. 

Actually, the more he thinks about it, they’ve been acting strange ever since Muku got his soulmark.

“Yuki-kun…!” he calls out to the other boy, who rushes to his dorm room in a hurry.

Heck. Fudge. If Muku was more vulgar, perhaps a “shit”. The frustration of being ignored makes him want to rip the door off its hinges and badger Yuki for answers, but refrains himself because it will just make everything worse. 

Muku’s dismayed Yuki’s ignoring him. He would be if anyone else did too, but somehow he feels like Yuki doing it is much more crushing.

Muku’s always looked up to him. He’s frankly a bit of a scaredy-cat and too shy to do anything when push comes to shove. Yuki is the opposite. He’s not afraid to voice his thoughts, sometimes coming off rude. He’s not scared to argue with clerks in order to get a deal on fabric. 

He’s– he’s so passionate. 

Muku loves theater, he really does, but it’s a shared love between him and Yuki. He doesn’t have the same love for track as he used to have. He adores fairytales and all things fantasy, but in the end, those are just made up stories. Muku doesn’t nearly have the same drive or talent Yuki has. 

_ Yuki is so cool _ , he thinks. The way a fire lights up in his eyes as he expertly weaves thread. Or when he sketches designs over and over until he’s satisfied. Muku could so easily list off the reasons why he looks up to Yuki.

...Muku hopes everything will be alright soon. 

•

Yuki’s been avoiding Muku. It’s blatantly clear to literally anyone who’s in a five-meter vicinity of them. There is an awkward tension whenever he steps into a room. He understands, when company members glance over to him when they think he’s not looking, or when they give him tense smiles. 

“Wake up idiot, you fucked up big time,” Tenma grumbles.

“Hack.” Yuki rolls onto his side to miserably glower at his troupe leader. 

“Muku’s at the door.” He throws a finger over his shoulder, pointing at said door. “He’s crying.”

“Fuck.” Yuki groans in his pillow. 

Shit. The consequences of his actions. Who would’ve thought. 

Tenma leaves to give them some privacy. Yuki can hear Muku’s tearful blabbering and Tenma’s embarrassing “comforting”, if you could even call it that. 

“Yuki-kun? Can we talk?” Muku asks, once the hack finally leaves to go do whatever. 

_ No _ , Yuki thinks, but wills himself to climb out of bed. He hesitantly grips the doorknob, only letting go when his knuckles began to turn pure white.

"If it's easier to talk behind the door, that's fine! I–" Muku pauses, and Yuki could almost imagine his bubbly mannerisms. He could see him sucking in his mouth as he struggled to piece together words, eyes rolling up ever so slightly, lost in thought.

...He has it really bad, doesn't he.

"–I... just wanted to check up on you." Yuki instantly feels terrible when a rush of euphoria flows through him. He shouldn't feel happy that his terrible behavior made his crush worry over him. It's selfish, and Muku didn't deserve that. He didn't deserve someone so self centered like Yuki. 

"...'M sorry," he mumbles, leaning against the door. "I... I shouldn't have treated you like I did. I was just..."

Gay? Pining? Awkward and confused over the fact he suddenly fell for his best friend?

"...yeah. It's not your fault, it's all me." 

Yuki hopes reincarnation existed. 

"Yuki-kun..." 

He hopes it existed, because he wants to see Muku happy, in this life. He, of all seven billion people on this planet, deserves to be happy with a perfect soulmate. 

"Did I do something wrong?"

He and Muku were polar opposites. Yuki had loathed the thought of soulmates for years, and pushed it away so vehemently. There was never a time Muku wasn't thinking of his soulmate. 

"No! No...! I..."

Muku deserves to laugh and smile and hold hands with that special someone. Yuki couldn't give him that. All he could possibly give Muku was a sharp tongue and bitter grudges. Yuki couldn't love him. Not in the way he wanted, not in the way he dreamed of ever since he was born.

"No. You didn't do anything wrong."

Maybe, in the next life, Yuki could be someone more cheerful and positive, who loved soulmates and all things romance. Someone who can love Muku and hold him when he's at his lowest. 

"...If you say so, Yuki-kun."

...Please. Pretty please.

"You're my best friend, please don't forget that."

_ I love you _ , goes unspoken.

"...Thanks, Muku."

•

Even when they made up after their little… fight? Could you even call it that? That’s not important, anyhow. Even when they made up, Yuki was still acting weird. Muku wanted to press him about it, but held off on it, because it was clearly still sore. 

He really wants to. If he were any less patient, he would have tackled Yuki and demanded answers. 

He’s a bit concerned. A bit of an understatement, actually. He’s so concerned that he’s scared that he might implode in on himself. 

It sucks. But Muku’s willing to wait. 

When it comes to Yuki, he’s willing to do a lot of things. He would’ve said anything, but Muku really  _ really  _ does not want to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Not that Yuki-kun would ever make him do something illegal! It’s just he has his limits. Like drug smuggling. 

...Muku’s been like that for the past few days. Running around in circles inside his brain. He’s been so distracted, even his teachers have started to pull him aside during class to see what’s up. 

Which is why he’s in his current predicament. Triangle hunting with Misumi. Or more like watching Misumi climb trees as if he were a monkey. 

It’s not much of a predicament, but he is mildly concerned that they are in the middle of nowhere. 

“Hey~ Muku~?” Misumi asks, hanging upside down on a tree branch. 

“Yes?”

“You seem distracted.”  _ I have been for the past three days, thanks for noticing _ , Muku thinks, but it was too rude in tone to say, and he would literally die if he hurt Misumi-san’s feelings. “Are you okay~?”

“I’m fine.” Kazu-kun also asked him this like a week ago. He feels like this is an intervention they plotted. “Just thinking.”

“Hmm… ‘bout?” 

“Stuff.”

Riveting conversation. 

“So, you mean Yuki~?”

Caught. 

Muku squeaks, and feels his cheeks heat up. He assumes it’s from embarrassment, but something tells him that’s not the case. For what little dignity he has left, he’s just going to assume that anyways, thank you! 

“...Yes,” Muku whispers, ducking his head down sheepishly so Misumi couldn’t see.

“Figured,” he smiles, though Muku couldn’t actually see him, “don’t think about it too hard, ‘kay~? You two are inseparable.”

It seems easy on paper, but hard in practice. Though, his sister always teases Muku that he’s gonna go bald by the time he reaches college, so maybe not thinking for a while is fine. Misumi dragged him out here to have fun, not worry about a boy. 

Have fun. Have fun! Stop thinking.

And despite it, he immediately starts spacing out again. 

You know, lately Muku has been noticing things about Yuki that he hasn’t for the past year or so. Like the way the corner of his eyes crinkle when he smiles; the soft huffs he makes when he’s satisfied with his work. Like when his eyes glimmer with amusement when he bullies Tenma, or–

Muku kind of sounds like the love interest admiring the main protagonist from afar, huh. 

…

…

_ GEHRHDKSHKAHFJDGSHSJHFJS _ , he internally keysmashes. 

“Muku~? Your face is red.” Misumi waves a hand in front of the boy’s face to call him back to reality. “Are you sick?”

“I’m okay! It’s just hot!” Muku immediately wants to crumple into ash because it’s winter. Misumi decidedly does not comment on it and gives him an all-knowing smile.

•

Yuki was just chilling, as he normally did.

Then his soulmark appeared.

“Oh my God,” Yuki says.

“Oh my God,” Kumon echoes.

Yuki stands up and punches the wall.

“WH–! HUH?! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!” Kumon shrieks, taken aback by the sudden display of violence. 

“Sorry,” Yuki waves off the stinging on his knuckles, “I had the urge to do that.” 

“Is– Is your hand okay?” he squawks.

“No. It hurts. But I think my pride is in worse condition. Please get me some ointment. Maybe a doctor.” Yuki  _ really _ just wants Kumon out of the room right now. Much to his relief, the grape-head did scramble out of the room in a hurry. 

God. 

He kind of always knew this would happen, but it still doesn’t make it any better. He crumples onto the floor and curls up in a fetal position. Yuki would cry right now but he doesn’t want to explain to Kumon why his eyes are suddenly puffy in the time he left. He already made a fool of himself by breaking down in Tenma’s arms. 

It would be convenient to just disappear right now. Maybe he could ask Misumi if he could dig him a ditch to hide in for the rest of eternity. 

Yuki’s overthinking it. He hasn’t even gotten a good look at his tattoo yet. 

He holds in a breath as he glances down at his hand. 

...A cat. It’s shaped like a cat. Yuki would be a little endeared if he wasn’t 0.2 seconds from having all of his arteries burst at once and dying in a bloody mess. But blood is very hard to clean, so he’ll just die in the courtyard maybe. In display of everyone he knows and loves. 

Oh well. He’s never been one to half-ass things. 

_ A cat _ , Yuki thinks disappointedly,  _ not a rose _ . And then immediately curses the thought. 

_ Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.  _

_ You can’t give Muku what he wants even if you did, idiot,  _ his brain hisses, but his heart says otherwise. His heart is a traitor. His heart wants to slam the door open and run to Muku and confess his feelings while Omi watches confused because they’re in the kitchen. His heart wants to factkin Homare and make romantic and pretty meaningless words. His heart is crying out, and his brain is frantically searching for more duct tape. 

_ Oh well. Your tattoos aren’t the same, so it’s time to regress in unhealthy coping mechanisms.  _ Haha. Cheers to that. He’s going to bottle all of this up and never mention a word of this to Muku. He’s going to pray to god this isn’t a shitty fanfiction and hope his crush goes away. He hopes the tags of this disaster aren’t  _ slow burn _ ,  _ friends to lovers _ ,  _ angst _ , and  _ pining _ . 

Yuki’s had crushes before. Very shallow ones, mind you, as soon as one of them strolled in with a bowl cut he wondered why he liked them in the first place. But eventually as he got older and older, the crushes fizzled out into nothingness. 

He doesn’t know how to cope with this. 

He’s a walking teenage disaster. 

Maybe he should ask Yume if she had any extra concealer. 

“Yuki?!” Kumon shouts, and he wonders how lost he was to not have noticed him come in. “Why are you on the ground?! Did you hurt your stomach too?!” 

Yuki glowers miserably at Kumon. 

•

Muku is distraught. Everything he has valued is being tested within this very moment and the last twenty-four hours. 

He… may have fallen in love with someone who’s not his soulmate. 

Not that Yuki’s a bad choice or anything! If he could choose anyone out of all his classmates and peers to have as a soulmate, Muku would choose Yuki. Hands down. No competition.

But the thing is that Yuki  _ isn’t _ . Yuki isn’t his soulmate, and he’s so conflicted because Muku, in all his life, has loved soulmates. He’s always imagined himself frolicking in a field of flowers and swinging hands with his. His soulmate is out there  _ somewhere _ , and Muku would hate to hurt their feelings if they were anything like him. He could imagine how poorly their meeting would go. 

_ “I’m sorry,” Muku says in this purely hypothetical scenario. “I can’t love you. I have someone else.” _

_ And then his soulmate slaps him and runs off into the sunset, never to be seen again.  _

Sure! There’s platonic and familial love, but the media doesn’t  _ care  _ for things like that. If you didn’t have a romantic relationship with your partner, and you were mildly well-known, there would be at least five articles trash talking you. Hell, even Muku thought like this. 

A knock snaps him out of his train of thought. 

“Hey.” Muku’s surprised to hear  _ Tenma _ of all people at his door. “Muku? You there?”

“Tenma-kun?” He blinks once, then twice, before realizing that he should probably let him inside. 

“This… really isn’t my place to say,” he says, squirming awkwardly, “but…”

Oh.

Huh.

“Thanks, Tenma-kun,” Muku murmurs, feeling awfully faint. He nods and steps out of the room, shutting the door with a  _ click _ . 

He wants to pass out on the floor despite knowing it will worry Kazunari, who will tell the rest of Mankai, worrying everyone. Instead, he collapses on one of the white cushions he has. 

Maybe he should just wing it. Yuki doesn’t care for societal norms, so why should Muku? He knows that everyone knows that he likes Yuki. He’s not precisely the most discreet person. They’re all probably just waiting for Muku to get his shit together. 

But the little devil sitting on his shoulder is telling him that it’s for the better he doesn’t say anything. And… maybe it is. He’s terrified of being rejected. He’s terrified of not being more than friends. He’s terrified of ruining their relationship and going back to square one. 

_ Princes don’t falter _ , he reminds himself,  _ princes are brave.  _

Muku sucks in a breath and whips out his phone out of his pocket.

**you:** hey, yuki-kun!

**you:** can we talk tomorrow?

Then his head hits the table and he passes out from exhaustion and nerves.

• 

**little prince:** can we talk tomorrow? 

Ahaha. Top ten phrases that get one’s blood pumping. As much as Yuki wants to decline, he forces himself to say yes.

He doesn’t get any sleep. He rolls around in his bed, praying tomorrow does not come. 

Unfortunately, tomorrow comes. 

They meet at a nice little park nearby. When they arrive, Muku’s face is indecipherable, and Yuki has no goddamn clue what this conversation is going to be about. 

"Yuki-kun... I..." Muku starts, wringing his hands together. "...I think I know why you avoided me."

_ Oh. So this is how I die _ , Yuki thinks. 

"Yeah?" He says instead. 

"Yuki..." The drop of the honorific suddenly had him sweating. "I... I think we're soulmates." 

"What."

"I...! I did some research about it and..." Muku takes an interest in his shoes, refusing to meet Yuki's confused stare. "It's... a type. A rare type where you have to fall in love with your soulmate first. And before you ask…! Tenma-kun told me you got a tattoo recently. And, um, the shade of concealer you have doesn’t really match your skin.”

_ THAT FUCKING HACK _ , Yuki thinks. He’s very tempted to get up and track down and kill Tenma himself, but his body is too shocked to do anything. He opts to have an internal conniption instead. 

"We... we don't have matching tattoos,” he stammers, eyebrows furrowed. As cathartic as being proved wrong in this scenario is, Yuki immediately tries to shut it down. God. Maybe he should just be quiet. 

"I know, but..." Muku rubs a finger on his rose-shaped blot. "...isn't it a bit strange how it resembles the theme of our plays that we were leads in?"

Fuck. He kind of had a point.

"Even... even if that's not the case, I still... want to try, because…” Muku swallows, “...because…”

•

“I love you!” 

_ Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod. I said it I said it I said it I said it,  _ Muku screams in his head. 

Yuki stiffens, and stares blankly. 

“Y–You don’t need to reciprocate or anything! I’m… fine with just being friends!” he blurts out hurriedly, and he’s unsure if it actually was an understandable statement because his brain is racing at a hundred miles per hour right now. It makes Muku’s chest clench a little at the thought of rejection. 

“But… I… I really think you’re cool and pretty! I’m,” he takes Yuki’s hand in his, “I’m so happy it was you, I fell for, out of everyone! You… you made me realize I don’t care about things like fate or destiny! I would… I _will_ do anything for you, even break the laws of gravity if I have to. Soulmates aren’t important, when it comes to you!” 

Yuki’s face goes bright red.  _ It’s kind of a cute look on him _ , but Muku doesn’t nearly have enough courage to say that to his face.

Then Yuki starts crying, and he immediately goes into panic overload mode.

“Y–Yuki?! Are you okay?!” 

“I’m,” he breathes out shakily, “okay.”

“Please don’t cry,” because Muku has been on the verge of tears for the past minute and is absolutely the kind of person to cry because someone else is, “are you upset?”

“No! No– I’m... happy,” Yuki mutters, glancing away from being too flustered. “I love you too, Muku.”

Pinch him. Is Muku really dreaming right now? His mouth goes dry trying to come up with a response, and he knows what Yuki felt when he just went dead silent.

... _ THUMP _ .

“Tenma!” Kumon hisses, nudging the boy who just fell over with his foot. Muku freezes, and Yuki turns around with a glare so ferocious it would scare off a bear. 

“Scatter!” Kazunari unhelpfully shouts. Misumi lifts the orange-head by the armpits and darts off in a random direction. 

They sit there in shell shocked silence for a good minute. 

“...I should have expected this,” Yuki sighs, massaging his temples. 

“Sorry. I should have gone somewhere more private.” Muku apologetically smiles, soft baby-blue eyes showing that he was not truly sorry.

“Come on. I bet we can catch up to the Friendly McExtrovert,” Yuki wipes away his tears and stretches out his hand, “he’s an art student, so his bad posture will slow him down.”

Muku giggles, and reaches out to take Yuki’s hand. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> OHGHHGOGH WHAT THE FUCK. 5k words holy shit
> 
> i dont like the ending tbh but i never know how to end shit so AHDMSGJSJDHFKS fuck
> 
> thank u for reading!! <3


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